Ohio voters will have shorter windows in which to cast early ballots under a proposed measure headed to Gov. John Kasich’s desk this week after the Republican-dominated legislature moved to cut almost a full week off the state’s early voting window. The House on Wednesday passed a measure that would end what’s known as “golden week,” the six days of early voting during which a voter can both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot at the same time. Democrats and voting-rights groups opposed the measure, which passed the state House on a party-line vote. The Senate had passed an identical bill in November, so the proposal now heads to Kasich, who is likely to sign it.
Ohio voters will still have 29 days to cast ballots early, one of the longer windows among the 32 states and the District of Columbia that allow early voting. Nearly 1.8 million Ohio voters, almost a third of the 5.58 million who cast a ballot in 2012, registered their votes early.
The Ohio House also passed a measure on Wednesday that would limit the ability of local county boards of elections to encourage voters to sign up for absentee ballots. The bill, which also passed the Senate last year, would prohibit county election administrators from sending out unsolicited applications for absentee ballots.
Full Article: Ohio Republicans move to curb early, absentee voting.